Buddy Boy

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A shelter in rural Pennsylvania provided safe haven for Buddy Boy when he needed it most. His background included an original family that facilitated Buddy being a victim of abuse. His second family treated him well but was no longer able to care for him. Feeling this super sweet and understandably nervous young springer would thrive in a loving home, the shelter staff turned to MAESSR for help. 

At his vet check, Buddy was found to be underweight, though eating a high quality food in his foster home with enthusiasm. The vet felt this should start to bring him up to a healthy weight. At the time he arrived at the shelter Buddy had fleas and had denuded his tail from chewing and biting. After treatment for fleas his tail is still raw and he regularly tries to chew it as well as some underbelly hot spot areas. He’s now on an anti-itch medication, a medicated shampoo and some ointment to clear this up. If this doesn’t produce relief for Buddy, the vet feels a possible irritation from an improper tail docking may be a factor. More to come here!

Buddy has been a pleasure to his foster family with a sweet personality, nice house manners and his evident pleasure in when given attention. He shows no interest in the trash or counter-surfing when left alone in the house for brief periods. For long periods he does not have access to the kitchen or trash. He rides calmly in car without any nervousness or stomach upset. Buddy is house-trained and will indicate his need to go by becoming restless and giving the foster family an intense stare and then going to the door. He has been fine with no accidents while his family is at work/school for 8-9 hours. He prefers to have some walk time before getting down to business but, since there is not a fenced yard at his foster home, it may be because he’s always on leash. 

When it comes to chewing, Buddy has not been destructive of anything. He will put his paws up for happy greeting when his family first gets home, but responds to “off” and will sit nicely when asked. He is allowed on certain furniture in his foster home and will test the people bed which the resident dog sleeps on now and again; he does respect the “off” command and sleeps on his dog bed beside his foster parent’s bed. 

Buddy loves being petted and, now that he feels a little surer of himself, will follow his foster family from room to room and join his foster mother on the couch when invited for some one-on-one love. He likes to investigate the dog toy box, pull something out to play with and then collect it on his bed. He likes to chase tennis balls but hasn’t quite got the concept of returning with them. His favorite is the empty water bottle snake. He has tolerated removing toys from his mouth with no complaint and doesn’t guard them. Neither does he guard his food dish and his foster mother has been able to pick it up in mid-feeding with no problem. He and the resident springer feed about two feet apart without any issues. 

Buddy and the resident neutered, male springer who is 11 years old were introduced slowly over an afternoon and have settled nicely together without any difficulty. Buddy has aggressively pursued the resident 15 year-old cat but is not relentless when the cat heads to his safe zone in the gated living room. Buddy has wisely respected the baby gates that separate the room. His foster mother is working with him to raise his response to the cat to detente level. 

On his walks, Buddy has greeted other human walkers calmly and politely. He has not paid much attention to other dogs. If he sees a squirrel or rabbit, he can immediately go from zero to sixty and can circus dog-walk on his back legs for an impressive distance while barking in his attempt to make the world safe from small game. His foster parents walk him with both the leash on his collar and with an Easy Walk harness for better control and safety. With no game in sight, he’s not trained to “heel”, but rather settles into a nice brisk pace. Buddy will consistently come to calling of his name in the house but not necessarily to the word “come”. Outside, he is so excited by the many smells and great numbers of squirrels that he ignores “come” altogether. If he sees squirrels through the window and by extension, the clear glass door, his response is to paw, bark and whine at the door for as long as he can see them. His foster mother will be working on “come” and will test him out in a friend’s fenced yard soon.

With the good care and guidance from his foster family and ever-ready prospects for a loving, adopting home, Buddy’s best days are ahead. Keep an eye to this one – he’s going to be someone’s very best buddy forever!!